Pigcasso – Non Human Artist
Written by Aniketh Kumar on May 24, 2024
Pigcasso (April 2016 – March 2024) was a 700-kilogram (1,500 lb) pig from South Africa whose paintings have sold for millions of rand all over the world. Pigcasso is best known for being the first non-human artist to be given her own art exhibition, and for holding the record for most expensive artwork by an animal ever sold. She is also famous for the watchmaker Swatch using one of her paintings in its 2019 limited-edition Flying Pig timepiece.[1] More broadly, she was known for inspiring conversations around veganism, vegetarianism, and factory farming.
Art career
When Lefson noticed that the pig ate and destroyed everything in her stall besides some paint brushes, she employed clicker training and positive reinforcement techniques to teach the pig to hold the brush in her mouth and apply paint to paper mounted on an easel placed before her.By dipping the brush in different colors, the pig began to create colorful abstract paintings in October 2016, which Lefson then sold to raise funds for the sanctuary Each of Pigcasso’s works was signed by dipping her nose-tip into beetroot ink and touching it onto the canvas.
